School on Precision Studies
The AVA network, coordinated by researchers from our physics department, held an advanced school on precision studies between 23-27 March 2020. This event was originally planned to be held in Prague in the Czech Republic, however, the current travel restrictions made this no longer possible. To keep a significant part of the School content, it was decided to hold the meeting as an online event, using Zoom as video conferencing tool.
In total, more than 50 participants joined the event which saw lectures and topical talks given by world-leading experts. They presented the latest results in theoretical and experimental antimatter studies along with wider research in accelerator science and particle physics.
The School started with a recap of the basics of beam handling and cooling techniques, instrumentation and particle trapping on the first day. This was complemented with an in-depth overview of the experimental programme at the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility at CERN where currently all of the low energy antimatter physics research is carried out.
The School continued by putting the AVA research programme into a wider context. This included ‘classic’ particle physics experiments, interferometry and quantum technologies. These talks helped understand the wider context in which precision studies are placed. More than 20 poster contributions, all available via the event indico page, were also contributed to the School.
Professor Carsten P Welsch, AVA Coordinator and Head of our Department, said: “The presentations highlighted the current state-of-the-art in precision studies using low energy antimatter beams. They also clearly showed the numerous challenges from limited beam intensities, machine access and the required precision. The AVA research has helped significantly improve a number of key technologies for these studies and also paved the way for entirely new experiments. Whilst the School could not take the planned format on this occasion, it still offered an excellent opportunity for discussions and knowledge exchange.”
The slides from all talks are already available via the event website; recordings from the talks will be made available via the same website in the near future. The invaluable help of FOTON and the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences is acknowledged.
More information about AVA can be found on the project homepage.